are excellent, affording ample room for
books and all needed accommodation for the public. In these respects it
is superior to both the Boston and Astor libraries. Under the same roof
is a museum containing an extensive collection, especially of geological
specimens, mostly of native product.

Melbourne has its Chinese quarter, like Sydney and San Francisco; it is
situated in Little Burke Street, just back of the Theatre Royal, and
forms a veritable Chinatown, with its idol temples, opium dens, lottery
cellars, cafes, low hovels, and kindred establishments. Here, one
requires an experienced guide to enable him to make his way safely and
understandingly. The peculiar notices posted upon the buildings in
Chinese characters are a puzzle to the uninitiated. The signs over the
shops are especially original and peculiar; they do not denote the name
of the owner, or particularize the business which is carried on within,
but are assumed titles of a flowery character, designed to attract the
fancy of the customers. Thus: Kong, Meng & Co. means "Bright Light
Firm"; Sun Kum Lee & Co. is in English "New Golden Firm"; Kwong Hop
signifies "New Agreement Company"; Hi Cheong, "Peace and Prosperity
Firm"; Kwong Tu Tye, "Flourishing and Peaceful Company"; and so on.

It is, as a rule, the worst type of the Chinese who leave their native
land to make a new home elsewhere, and it is not to be expected that
they will be much improved by intercourse with the Australian
"larrikins," who are composed of the lowest and most criminal orders.
This refuse of humanity is largely made up of the rabble of London and
Liverpool, many of whom have had their passages paid by relatives and
interested persons at home solely to get rid of them, while others have
worked their passage hither to avoid merited punishment for crimes
committed in England.

CHAPTER V.

The province of Victoria is the special gold-field of Australia, and has
produced two-thirds of all the precious metal which statistics credit to
the country at large. One of the localities which has proved to be the
most prolific in gold is Ballarat, now a charming and populous city,
next to Melbourne in importance. It lies nearly a hundred miles north of
the capital, at an elevation of fifteen hundred feet above sea-level,
and is accessible by railway. This is thought to be the centre of the
richest gold-producing district in the world. Beechworth, one hundred
and seventy miles northe